Category Archives: G4S

Urgent Call on the AFL-CIO: Reverse Support for the Dakota Access Pipeline

[To sign the statement below, please click here, including your trade trade union and/or other affiliation in the comment box]

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Urgent Call on the AFL-CIO: Reverse Support for the Dakota Access Pipeline
Labor for Palestine, September 17, 2016

As trade unionists and social justice activists, we urgently call on the AFL-CIO to reverse its disgraceful support for the Dakota Access Pipeline.

DAPL continues more than 500 years of settler-colonialism, dispossession, and genocide against indigenous people in the Americas, who are defending the Earth’s vital resources against the same corporate greed, state violence, and repression that violate workers’ rights on a daily basis.

Like the Black and Brown Lives, Immigrant Rights, Palestinian, and other freedom struggles, the courageous Sioux resistance at Standing Rock has become a worldwide beacon for all who fight injustice.

In solidarity, numerous trade union bodies — including the Amalgamated Transit UnionCalifornia Faculty AssociationCommunications Workers of AmericaIndustrial Workers of the WorldIWW Environmental Unionism CaucusNational Nurses UnitedNew York State Nurses AssociationNational Writers Union/UAW Local 1981United Electrical WorkersSEIU 503 OPEUBorder Agricultural Workers; and the Labor Coalition for Community Action, which includes the A. Phillip Randolph Institute, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, and Pride at Work — #StandWithStandingRock.

Workers’ rights are inseparable from indigenous rights. We need decent union jobs that protect, rather than destroy, the Earth — there are no jobs on a dead planet.

An injury to one is an injury to all: #NoDAPL!

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Labor for Palestine Co-Conveners:

Suzanne Adely, U.S.-MENA Global Labor Solidarity Network; Former Staff, Global Organizing Institute, UAW

Michael Letwin, Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325

Clarence Thomas, Co-Chair, Million Worker March; Executive Board, ILWU Local 10 (retired)

Jaime Veve, Transport Workers Union Local 100, NYC (retired)

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See also:

From Standing Rock to Occupied Jerusalem: We Resist Desecration of our Burial Sites and Colonizing our Indigenous Lands (Palestinian BDS National Committee, September 9, 2016)

Open Letter from U.S. Trade Unionists to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: Boycott Apartheid Israel (Labor for Palestine, December 4, 2009)

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info@laborforpalestine.net
https://laborforpalestine.net/
https://www.facebook.com/LaborForPalestine/
https://twitter.com/Labor4Palestine
Donate: https://laborforpalestine.net/donate-to-lfp/

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This petition will be delivered to:

  • AFL-CIO President
    Richard Trumka

Palestinian labour movement welcomes Fuecys union in Uruguay support for Israel boycott (Palestinian Trade Unions)

BNCPalestinian labour movement welcomes Fuecys union in Uruguay support for Israel boycott

 

The Palestinian labor movement welcomes the declaration from the Human Rights Secretariat of the Uruguayan Federation of Workers of Services and Commerce (Fuecys) calling for the boycott of Israeli products and for companies in Uruguay to break their ties with Israel’s apartheid. We salute this principled commitment and concrete initiative of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality.

We also deeply appreciate the public support that the Trade Union Centre of G4S employees in Uruguay has extended to the campaign against the British security company G4S. The company has lost contracts worth millions of dollars in more than a dozen countries during the four-year long global campaign lead by the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement over its role in in Israeli prisons that hold Palestinian political prisoners, settlements and checkpoints.

We stand in solidarity with the Uruguayan G4S workers, whose labor rights are being violated by G4S and other international corporations.

We hope the whole of PIT-CNT, Uruguay’s Federation of Labor Unions, will decide to support the Palestinian appeal issued in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian organizations, including all Palestinian parties and trade unions, to turn rhetoric solidarity into effective actions by joining the BDS movement.

Trade union support for BDS in Latin America and around the world is continuously growing. Fuecys and the whole of PIT-CNT should join important unions in the region that already support the BDS movement, such as CUT, CSP-Conlutas, and CTB, from Brazil, and CTA and CTA Autónoma, from Argentina.

From India to Sweden, South Africa and the United States, trade unions and workers have blocked Israeli ships from docking, dozens of trade unions and their confederations are actively pressuring corporations and governments to cut relations with Israel and join campaigns of boycotts, divestments and sanctions.

Trade unions that have already spoken out in opposition to the role that G4S plays in the oppression of Palestinians include Unite and Unison in the United Kigdom, Dutch union Abvakabo, Norwegian union Industri Energi and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

As COSATU already in 2006 stated: “Boycotts, disinvestments and sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa hastened our march to democracy. Why should it be different for Palestinians? In the face of an intransigent, arrogant, racist and brutal Israeli state, this strategy of isolation – particularly since the vast majority of Palestinians support it – should be applied to Israel as well. It is a peaceful option.”

In fact, the global movement that contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa inspired the Palestinian movements and unions to call on people of conscience all over the world to apply non-violent pressure on Israel until it respects the international law and the Palestinian human rights.
The growing impact of the BDS movement is giving new hope to the Palestinian struggle, and and boycotts, divestment and sanctions have become fundamental elements of solidarity for all those that truly want to support the Palestinian cause.

From Palestine to Latin America, we are united against all forms of oppression and discrimination. Fellow workers in Uruguay, your effective solidarity with our struggle for freedom, justice and equality is more crucial today than ever!

Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) – Gaza Strip

Palestinian Federation of Independent Trade Unions

The Palestinian Federation of New Unions

General Union of Palestinian Workers (GUPW)

El movimiento obrero palestino celebra la declaración de la Secretaría de Derechos Humanos de la Federación Uruguaya de Empleados de Comercio y Servicios (FUECYS), la cual llama al boicot de productos israelíes y pide que empresas en Uruguay rompan sus lazos con el régimen de apartheid israelí. Saludamos este compromiso y esta iniciativa concreta de solidaridad con la lucha palestina por libertad, justicia y igualdad.

También apreciamos profundamente el apoyo público que el Centro Sindical de Trabajadores de G4S de Uruguay ha extendido a la campaña en contra de la compañía de seguridad británica G4S. La compañía ha perdido contratos de millones de dólares en más de una docena de países durante la campaña mundial de cuatro años del movimiento global de Boicot, Desinversión y Sanciones (BDS) como consecuencia de su papel en las cárceles israelíes que mantienen prisioneros/as políticos/as palestinos/as, en las colonias ilegales y en los puestos de control de Israel.

Manifestamos nuestra solidaridad con los trabajadores/as de G4S Uruguay, cuyos derechos laborales son violados por G4S y otras corporaciones internacionales.

Esperamos que la totalidad del PIT-CNT tomará la decisión de apoyar el llamamiento palestino hecho en 2005 por más de 170 organizaciones palestinas, incluyendo todos los partidos políticos y sindicatos palestinos, para convertir la solidaridad retórica en acciones efectivas al unirse al movimiento BDS.

El apoyo sindical al BDS en América Latina y en todo el mundo está en continuo crecimiento. FUECYS y el conjunto del PIT-CNT deben unirse a sindicatos importantes de la región que ya apoyan el movimiento BDS, como la CUT, CSP-Conlutas, y CTB, de Brasil, y la CTA y la CTA Autónoma, de Argentina.

De India a Suecia, de Sudáfrica a los Estados Unidos, sindicatos y trabajadores/as han impedido atracar a barcos israelíes en los puertos, decenas de sindicatos y sus confederaciones están presionando activamente a corporaciones y gobiernos para reducir las relaciones con Israel y unirse a las campañas de boicot, desinversiones y sanciones.

Los sindicatos que ya se han pronunciado en contra de la función que desempeña G4S en la opresión del pueblo palestino incluyen Unite y Unison en el Reino Unido, el sindicato holandés Abvakabo, el noruego Industri Energi y el Congreso de Sindicatos de Sudáfrica (COSATU).

Como COSATU ya en 2006 declaró: “Los boicots, desinversiones y sanciones contra el régimen del apartheid en Sudáfrica aceleraron nuestra marcha hacia la democracia. ¿Por qué debería ser diferente para los/as palestinos/as? Frente a un intransigente, prepotente, racista y brutal Estado israelí, esta estrategia de aislamiento – sobre todo porque la gran mayoría de los/as palestinos/as la apoya – se debe aplicar a Israel. Es una opción pacífica”.

De hecho, el movimiento global que contribuyó al fin del apartheid en Sudáfrica inspiró a los movimientos y sindicatos palestinos a pedir a las personas de conciencia de todo el mundo que apliquen presión no violenta en Israel hasta que éste respete el derecho internacional y los derechos humanos del pueblo palestino.

El creciente impacto del movimiento de BDS está dando una nueva esperanza a la lucha palestina, y los boicots, desinversiones y sanciones se han convertido en elementos fundamentales de la solidaridad para todos aquellos que realmente quieren apoyar la causa palestina.

Desde Palestina a Latinoamérica, estamos unidos contra todas las formas de opresión y discriminación. Compañeros/as trabajadores/as de Uruguay, hoy su solidaridad efectiva con nuestra lucha por libertad, justicia y igualdad es más importante que nunca!

Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) – Gaza Strip
Federación General de Sindicatos de Palestina – Franja de Gaza

Palestinian Federation of Independent Trade Unions
Federación Palestina de Sindicatos Independientes

The Palestinian Federation of New Unions
Federación Palestina de Nuevos Sindicatos

General Union of Palestinian Workers (GUPW)
Sindicato General de Trabajadores/as Palestinos/as

– See more at: https://bdsmovement.net/2016/palestinian-labour-movement-welcomes-fuecys-union-uruguay-support-israel-boycott-14128#sthash.CbgMUZqt.dpuf

UK unions urge G4S to end Israel occupation role now (Electronic Intifada)

Electronic Intifada

UK unions urge G4S to end Israel occupation role now

151204-g4s (1)
G4S has been protested by Palestine solidarity campaigners worldwide.

Anne PaqActiveStills

The leaders of some of the UK’s biggest trade unions and campaign groups are asking UK-based multinational security firm G4S to clarify its announcement that it “expects to exit” the Israeli market and sell its Israeli subsidiary.

G4S is being pushed for information about when the sale will take place and to commit to immediately stop working with Israeli bodies that are involved in human rights abuses, such as Israeli occupation forces and the Israel Prison Service.

The letter is signed by Unite the Union,UNISON, the National Union of Teachers, construction union UCAAT and the Fire Brigades Union, as well as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, War on Want, and the Stop G4S UK campaign.

Broken pledges

When G4S announced in March that it intends to sell its Israeli subsidiary, the news was welcomed as a significant step forward for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

At the same time, it was clear that the pressure had to continue because G4S has a long track record of breaking its promises.

For example, a pledge G4S made in 2012 to end its involvement in Ofer prison and Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank by the end of 2015 was never translated into reality.

Now G4S is being pushed to turn its words into actions by trade unions representing millions of workers in the UK.

“We are concerned that [G4S] continues to provide services to Israeli state bodies that commit serious violations of international law and Palestinian human rights and that the announcement of a sale of G4S Israel may be used to justify ongoing complicity in human rights violations,” the letter states.

The full text of the letter addressed to G4S CEO Ashley Almanza and the six detailed questions it asks are at the bottom of this article.

The letter comes ahead of the company’s annual shareholders meeting on 26 May, where activistsplan to protest the company’s ongoing complicity.

The last five annual meetings have been met with strong protests and disruptions by campaigners over the company’s role in human rights abuses in Palestine, the UK and around the world.

The company has moved this year’s meeting out of Central London to Sutton in the far southwest of the city to try to discourage protests.

Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights UK recently published an analysis arguing that the G4S announcement that the firm “expects to exit” Israel falls short of a firm commitment and that “withdrawal should take place immediately or as soon as practicable, rather than the nebulous stated period of 12-24 months.”

Campaign spreads

The fact that the world’s biggest security company and one of the world’s largest private employers is even talking about exiting the Israeli market is testament to the impact of the international campaign against the company.

Clearly, all the negative media attention, the lost contracts with businesses, universities and unions and the decision to divest by investors including the Bill Gates Foundation and the United Methodist Church are worrying G4S.

It is likely that the decisions by three UN bodies in Jordan to stop working with the company and thevote by the executive of the UK Labour Party to stop using the company at its annual conference were all particularly painful for G4S.

The international campaign against G4S was first activated in Europe but is now increasingly spreading to the Arab World, Latin America and the US.

Last week, BDS Egypt held the public launch of its campaign against G4S and campaigns against the firm are now ongoing in Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco and Jordan.

A major restaurant chain in Colombia recently cut its ties with G4S following a campaign by BDS activists in the country and a G4S campaign is ongoing in Brazil.

The Trade Union Center of G4S employees in Uruguay also endorsed the campaign against G4S.

A coalition of US groups recently launched the g4sfacts.org website which details the role that the company plays in numerous human rights violations, including in Palestine and in US and UK youth detention facilities.